lj77346

I stayed in deck 3 cabins a number of times. It's quiet on deck 3 because the only people walking down the hallway are those with cabins there (and a few passengers who think they can get to the tenders through that hallway). With the midship location and being low on the ship, I've found the ride in deck 3 cabins to be quite smooth.

One of the things about Simply More that amuses me is the advertising about "free champagne..." and "free shore excursions." Using the same logic, now I realize that my country club membership provides me with free golf. Wow, who knew that the purpose of my club dues was to make my golf free. Sorry for the digression.

We had our "free" cruise on the Riviera in February 2023. We paid taxes and fees, but we did receive the Oceania Club benefits for the platinum level on that cruise - $500 OBC, gratuities and $150 pp spa credit. Instead of the bottle of wine, we received a bottle of champagne. The interesting thing is that you do not officially become "platinum" (i.e. get the pin, bag, etc) until the cruise after your "free" cruise, which is your 20th paid cruise.

Apparently "simply more" means simply more revenue for Oceania and simply less opportunity to customize the cruise to meet your own needs.

Next Oceania's slogan will change from "Your world, your way" to "Your world, our way."

Prior to October 1, 2022 it was mandatory to use ArriveCAN to visit Canada, but that is no longer the case per the Canadian government website that "LHT28" posted. "COVID-19 border measures end on October 1, 2022 Starting October 1, 2022, all COVID-19 border requirements, including vaccination, mandatory use of ArriveCAN, and any testing and quarantine/isolation requirements will end for all travellers entering Canada whether by land, air or sea."

I don't know when "grifdoglover" cruised to Alaska RT Seattle, but according to the Canadian government website ETA's are not needed to travel to Canada if you have a U.S. passport. "I am an American citizen. What do I need to enter Canada? American citizens, including American-Canadian citizens, must carry proper identification and meet the basic requirements to enter Canada. You do not need a Canadian passport, a Canadian visa or an eTA to enter Canada if you are traveling with a valid U.S. passport."

Last year sailing from Seattle on the Regatta a ramp was used for embarkation.

If you have not been to Alaska before, I think missing Juneau is a big deal as it is a port with access to Mendenhall glacier as well as opportunities for whale watching. IMO Wrangell and Haines are not very interesting ports to visit.

No response to comments on the mid-cruise comment cards seems to be business as usual for Oceania. I've sailed on a number of cruise lines over the years and virtually all of the other cruise lines respond to comments submitted even if it's only a note that says thank you for taking the time to comment - at least I knew that someone saw what I submitted. To my way of thinking, it's just courteous to respond to a comment from a customer with either a note or a phone call. Although I enjoy cruising with Oceania, I agree with "hankandteri" that to Oceania's management, we are only another brick in the wall. It seems like no one on the ship has any authority to handle problems and the stock reply is something like "we have to get Miami's approval to correct the situation." Even if it's a seemingly simple problem like getting the correct Oceania Club perks on the onboard account, I feel like I'm a character in the movie Dangerous Liaisons as the person at guest services or the concierge desk will nod and smile and tell me "it's beyond my control." To me it feels like Oceania's corporate philosophy is complex solutions to simple problems.

In the culinary classes all the ingredients you will use are there. As the chef explains what you will be preparing in the first recipe, her assistants set up everything you will be using at your station. After you cook the first item in the class, the chef explains the next one you will cook and the assistants set up everything you need for recipe number two, etc. I think there may be some shore excursions where you go shopping with a chef, but it's not related to a culinary class.

I was on both the Regatta's May 4 and May 11 California coastal cruises and found the food to be good, a step up from Princess and Celebrity, but nothing that wowed me. I enjoyed my dinners in the GDR as much or more than Toscana and the Polo Grill because for specialty restaurants, the meals there didn't seem any better than the GDR. I ate breakfast everyday in the GDR and the food was always very good with probably the best service that I had on 20+ Oceania cruises. Lunch at Waves or the Terrace Cafe was always good - I was in no danger of starving. I ordered room service a few times and the food arrived hot and the steak was prepared as hoped for (medium rare). I was happy that there was Guinness stout in stock and felt fortunate that I am able to cruise.

If the Vista is set up like the Marina and Riviera, the area that looks like a promenade on deck 6 is only access to the lifeboats and is not a place where there are loungers.

Dover sole is occasionally offered in the main dining room.

Last two: Marina - Dec. 4-18, 2022 and Riviera - Feb. 18 - Mar. 2, 2023 Next two: Regatta - May 4-18, 2023 and Regatta - July 3-14, 2023

As we had 9 weeks between Oceania cruises, we decided we needed a cruise in between so we took a cruises out of Galveston on the Ruby Princess. The cruise was supposed to go to Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. This cruise showed that Oceania isn't the only line that cancels ports as the captain decided that it would be unsafe to call at Roatan (high winds) and Costa Maya (high swells) so for awhile it seemed like we would have a 7 day cruise to nowhere. Incidentally, on the days when we missed ports, it was nice and sunny and the sailing seemed smooth, so you have to believe that the captain made his decision based on safety. On both occasions, the decision to skip the port was made (announced) at about the time we were supposed to arrive and you could see that we were near the port and the harbor pilot was onboard. We did make it to Cozumel and arrived the evening before we were scheduled to arrive and stayed there over night. As compensation for the missed ports, Princess refunded the port charges for Roatan and Costa Maya, about $17 per person per port and because of the missed ports we got a "goodwill" refundable onboard credit of $75 per person (I don't know if you got more if you were in a more expensive room). This was different than Oceania's policy of you missed a port, tough luck. So while passengers were disappointed about the missed ports, at least Princess made a gesture to compensate a bit because the cruise did not go as planned.

Yes, on your free cruise you get your "O" gratuities, credits, etc.

We booked guarantee cabins twice, both times B4 guarantees. For one of the cruises we didn't get the cabin assignment until the day before embarkation, but it was a great upgrade as we got a penthouse. The other time we got a cabin assigned about 3 weeks before embarkation and got a small upgrade from B4 to B3. You can book specialty dining and the timing for when you can make reservations is based on your guarantee category.

This topic is like a bad cold that just won't go away. From the number of comments you would think that dressing sloppy was an endemic problem on Oceania cruises. Does it occur occasionally - sure, but is it enough of an issue that some become obsessed with it - apparently so. I've been on 20+ Oceania cruises and never perceived people's choice of clothing as a significant issue. Maybe it's because I'm oblivious or not very observant, but I'd sure rather enjoy my cruise than worry about how others dress

If you sale from Seattle, you typically sail outside Vancouver Island on the way north and the inside passage on return.

On the Riviera now and in the specialty restaurants it appears that the maitre d’ will enforce dress standards to some extent. In Toscana tonight, a man tried to get into Toscana in shorts and the maitre d’ told him he needed to change to long pants. There was no argument and shortly after, the man returned dressed as requested and was admitted to the restaurant.

Currently on the Riviera (Feb. 20 sailing). Although there was an in person muster drill on the previous two cruises, there was not an in person drill today. We just went to the muster station when boarding the ship and didn’t have to go there when the captain was reading the instructions around 4:45.

We have a December 2023 Vista cruise and culinary classes are online now for that cruise.

As that no doubt is scientific research, can the cruise be viewed as a business expense? What A Market - thank you for all the info you are posting as we board the Riviera on February 20 so we are enjoying the preview.

If you look at the schedules Oceania has published through 2025, it looks like the Riviera will be sailing in Alaska in 2025 as the Regatta is in Asia through July 2025 and the last cruise listed for the Riviera ends in Vancouver on May 15, 2025. Based on those schedules, it looks like the Riviera will be Oceania's ship in Alaska in 2025.